How to navigate an airport while traveling in Serbia

Serbia is a country full of monuments, historical places, and beautiful nature, and the most important thing, people are very friendly and warm. Serbians address another person whom he/she doesn’t know with “brother - brate” or “boss - šefe”. Even if you go to the market/supermarket, people usually address you “neighbor – komšija/komšinice”.

Luckily for you, most young people can speak English. Why? It is simple. If you don’t speak English it’s like “you’re not educated” because of many reasons: good movies and TV shows are mostly in English, good books for IT or other professions are written in English, we can’t travel almost anywhere (except countries of ex-Yugoslavia) without English, and we can’t help foreign people if they’re in a trouble without English. However, if you start to speak Serbian (at least a little bit), you’ll be appreciated and respected much more. Plus, we’re going to have bigger motivation to help you and show you our city.

Of course, you can see English text on some signs, but in most situations this isn’t enough. This is especially true when you have a connecting flight or documentation issues when going through customs.

Thus, in this article, I'll explain what to say in some of the most common situations that can occur in Serbian airports using three examples:

Arriving at the Belgrade airport.

Departing from the Belgrade airport.

Making a connecting flight via the Belgrade airport.

Let’s start!

Vocabulary

Here is some vocabulary that you may need when going to an airport in Serbia:

• sedište do prolaza (aisle seat)

• dolasci (arrivals)

• prtljag (baggage)

• boarding karta (boarding pass)

• kabina (cabin)

• odlazak (departure)

• ekonomska klasa (economy class)

• zemlja/ sletanje (land/landing)

• poleteti/poletanje (take-off)

• terminal (terminal)

• pasoš (passport)

• pista (runway)

• turbulencija (turbulence)

• sedište do prozora (window seat)

Arrivals - Dolasci

Imagine that you are arriving at Nikola Tesla (the Belgrade airport). You leave the plane… and enter hell. At that moment, you cannot find anybody who speaks English and the Serbian language is everywhere. Here is the first phrase that you will need:

Now, you have successfully crossed the border and entered Serbia; you just need to get your luggage. Usually, you won't have any problems here. However, just in case, let’s look at some useful expressions:

Hopefully, you’ve been able to get all your stuff without any problems and are inside the airport now! There’s just one thing left to do: go to the city!

• Gde je avioekspres? (Where is the Aero express?)

• Gde je autobuska stanica? (Where is the bus station?)

• Gde je taksi? (Where is a taxi?)

Departures - Odlasci

Everything here is the same as before, just in a different order. So now you will find your terminal, find your check-in desk, go to your gate and then, board the plane.

• Gde je terminal F? (Where is terminal F?)

• Da li imate ručni prtljag? (Do you have hand luggage?)

• Gde je izlaz broj 15? (Where is gate #15?)

• Vašu boarding kartu, molim. (Boarding pass, please.)

You can always get further information from the cabin crew.

Connections - Veze

If you need to make a connecting flight, there isn't much new vocabulary that you’ll need to learn. Here, however, are a few useful phrases:

• Imam tranzit, šta je potrebno da uradim? (I have a connection, what do I need to do?)

• Da li mi je potrebna viza za tranzit? (Do I need visa for transit?)

When it comes to finding a particular place, you can do so very simply in Russian. All you need is the word Gde (where) + verb to be (ja sam – I am, ti si - you are –you informal, he is – on je, ona je – she is, it is – ono je.. Mi smo – we are, vi ste – you are, Vi ste – you are – you formal, oni su – they are –pl., one su – they are ---pl.f. , ona su – they are –pl.n. ) plus the place / or someone’s name. For example:

• Gde je toalet/WC? (Where is the toilet?)

• kafić (cafe)

• izlaz (exit)

• ulaz (entrance)

• Gde je Bojana? (Where is Bojana?)

• Gde su Novak i Jelena? (Where are Novak and Jelena?)

And now, the most important question of all for many people:

• Gde je Djutri fri? (Where is the Duty-Free shop?)

This uses the same word as in English, but is written with Serbian letters (Djutri fri).

So, Serbian airports aren’t as complicated as they seem! Plus, this is especially true if you learn a few Serbian phrases.

As we say in Serbian: “Možeš ubiti dve muve jednim udarcem!” (You can kill two hares at the same time!). These two “hares” would be:

You will be able to get through a Serbian airport without any problems.

Everybody will be shocked that a foreigner can speak Serbian! This is really unusual.

Therefore, you will find that people are very willing to help you and speak to you. I hope you enjoy your time in Serbia and that you don't need any more expressions than the ones listed above; they are definitely important for your vocabulary!

Hello, my name is Suzana. I'm from Serbia. I'm 31 years old.
First, I’m a professional language teacher. I’ve been working on Italki as a professional teacher for 1 year and six months (and I’ve been also working as an informal tutor for two years). Second, I’ve been working as a Serbian language expert for three years and three months: I created Serbian lessons and taught foreign people my native language. Third, I’ve been a translator for one year and six months: I translated English and Spanish lessons to Serbian. Also, I translated the synopses of the movies from English to Serbian. Finally, I'm a language expert who speaks many languages. I correct English, Spanish and Italian exercises, and I explain all grammar rules so that they can be understood by other people. My lessons are very creative, interesting and fun. I am going to teach you how to read, speak and write step by step. When you finish my Serbian classes, you're going to be ready to speak in Serbian without any problem in all kinds of situations. All materials that I have are going to be at your disposal. You can download them, and they can serve as an aid in your studies. Also, I'm going to give you various types of exercises so you can improve your language skills. Why should you choose me? The Serbian phrase is: “The more you know - the more you're worth”. Also, Serbian is spoken in all parts of ex-Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...), in some parts of Greece, Bulgaria, etc. If you decide to travel, it is going to be convenient for you. Please try my introductory 30-minute lesson. Additionally, during the introductory lesson, I'm going to assess your level of knowledge so I can personalize lessons to suit your personal needs. I´m looking forward to working with you! I wish you all the best.

Unterrichtet

Serbisch

Aus

Serbien

Lehrstunden

108

Kroatisch

Muttersprachler

,

Serbisch

Muttersprachler

,

Bosnisch

Muttersprachler

,

Spanisch

C2

,

Italienisch

C2

,

Englisch

C2

,

Russisch

C2

,

Portugiesisch

B2

,

Slowakisch

B2

,

Türkisch

B1

,

Deutsch

A2

,

Mandarin

A2

,

Französisch

A1

Hello, my name is Suzana. I'm from Serbia. I'm 31 years old.
First, I’m a professional language teacher. I’ve been working on Italki as a professional teacher for 1 year and six months (and I’ve been also working as an informal tutor for two years). Second, I’ve been working as a Serbian language expert for three years and three months: I created Serbian lessons and taught foreign people my native language. Third, I’ve been a translator for one year and six months: I translated English and Spanish lessons to Serbian. Also, I translated the synopses of the movies from English to Serbian. Finally, I'm a language expert who speaks many languages. I correct English, Spanish and Italian exercises, and I explain all grammar rules so that they can be understood by other people. My lessons are very creative, interesting and fun. I am going to teach you how to read, speak and write step by step. When you finish my Serbian classes, you're going to be ready to speak in Serbian without any problem in all kinds of situations. All materials that I have are going to be at your disposal. You can download them, and they can serve as an aid in your studies. Also, I'm going to give you various types of exercises so you can improve your language skills. Why should you choose me? The Serbian phrase is: “The more you know - the more you're worth”. Also, Serbian is spoken in all parts of ex-Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...), in some parts of Greece, Bulgaria, etc. If you decide to travel, it is going to be convenient for you. Please try my introductory 30-minute lesson. Additionally, during the introductory lesson, I'm going to assess your level of knowledge so I can personalize lessons to suit your personal needs. I´m looking forward to working with you! I wish you all the best.